Thursday, January 27, 2011

Okay, I know this isn't the most appetizing meal you've ever seen. And the lighting in my kitchen at 8:30pm in the winter kinda stinks... but the one pot meal? Very good, very quick, and even husband friendly!

I'm starting a new series this week entitled, "Gluten Free One Pot Meals." I think I deserve a sticker for originality.

So the concept isn't anything new. But whether you work full time, commute an hour to work, stay home with your kids, dinner time can often be tough to figure out.

Last summer we addressed this issue with Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals. A number of wonderful gluten free bloggers helped me out by sharing their favorite quick and easy meals.

This time I'm hoping to post a "One Pot Meal" once a week. I don't plan on having a time frame for this series. One pot, easy meals are needed year round. "One pot" can meal anything from my dutch oven, to the pizza pan, to the frying pan, to a wok, etc...

This week's one pot meal uses my favorite large skillet. It's a 12" non-stick pan I received when Michael & I got married. It's still one of my favorite pans. These recipes will not be meals that are set in stone. Make them with the ingredients you have on hand. If you don't have any quinoa, or if it scares you, or if you have picky eaters... then use brown rice -or- gf pasta -or- gf bread cubes -or- cooked potatoes. Go crazy and try your own variations!

Directions: In your skillet add 2 cups water and the dry quinoa. Bring the water to a simmer and cook covered for 10-12 minutes until quinoa is fluffy and very little water remains. (A great tutorial on cooking quinoa). Remove the cooked quinoa from the pan, place in a bowl & set aside. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Brown ground turkey. Add onions, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes until they are soft. Stir the cooked quinoa into the mixture. (Alternatively, you could served the cooked vegetables & meat mixture over individual servings of quinoa.) Now, if you're not feeling up to a highly flavored meal you could eat the meal as is. But if you want some flavor variations for your one pot meal, here are some ideas you could use:

For an Asian Inspired Meal:

1-2 tbsp. soy sauce (or soy sauce sub)

a splash of sesame oil

a few shakes of roasted sesame seeds

a splash of rice vinegar

a splash of fish sauce

For an Italian Inspired Meal:

Add 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes to the skillet 5 minutes before serving

1 teaspoon dried basil (or 3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil)

1-2 teaspoons dried oregano

splash a bit of extra virgin olive oil on each serving, right before eating!

Great idea, Carrie. I love having one-pot ideas that can be whipped up in a hurry and cleaned up just as fast. That winter lack of light and food photography is frustrating. I like to think I'm keeping it real and homey with the bad lighting in my winter food photography.

missmarc - YES! I bought it for lunch today myself!!Wendy - Thanks girl! I agree. One pot meals are really what get my husband and I through the week. Just easier! :-) I love your "keeping it real & homey" description of winter lighting! that's perfect!

This is a great "clean out the fridge" meal! We had a pretty random dinner last night because we had so many veggies on hand we had to eat. I just love throwing a bunch of stuff in our cast iron skillet and seeing what comes out. Usually, a better meal than when we follow a recipe.

Yum... I would love this. My kids won't. They're still not sold on the texture of quinoa. I was wondering if you have a gf/cf suggestions for Chinese New Year - I'm trying to have a little celebration with the kids, but our usual - Chinese dumplings - use wonton wrappers (which have wheat). So, now I'm scrambling to come up with something else.

This is great! I was trying to figure out another way to use the quinoa I had left in the pantry along with some ground turkey...I've done both turkey-quinoa burgers and turkey-quinoa meatloaf. Both were great but starting to get boring. I'm blood type AB and about the only ground meat I digest is turkey. Thanks for sharing...I know what I'm having for dinner tonight. :-)

Your nonstick skillet - is it super-flat on bottom? Like, do you have a ceramic cooktop and does it cook evenly? I'm thinking I need a nonstick skillet but want one I can trust. I love my cast iron, but it's not for everything.

This is absolutely delicious! Quinoa recipes are the best! :) I'm absolutely gonna try cooking this recipe. Thank you very much for sharing this. Thank you also for sharing a link on how to perfectly cook quinoa. All the best to you!